I work for a cancer diagnostics company, and our external product information (package inserts) has to be translated into 22 languages. Not so for our service/internal information since the global "standard" for the company is English. Our technical writers insist (rightfully so, I now agree) that we write for 5th grade English level...on my side of the house where it's mostly medical/scientific documentation, that creates some heartburn: what fifth grader can explain the molecular interaction of a chimerized monoclonal antibody against an extracellular domain of epidermal growth factor receptor? The writers ironically LOVE it when we can use pictographic elements instead of text (I gleefully remind them that once we remaster hieroglyphics, their days are numbered!).
It bothered me quite a bit in the beginning, because it DID feel like it was "dumbing down" the science, but after meeting many of the people we support, I get it...I sure couldn't read anything that technical in a language I didn't speak fluently!